Revise Blog - Building a post-AI word processor
The best Google Docs alternatives in 2026
Six document editors worth switching to, and how well they have integrated AI features
Artur Sapek, Founder of Revise4 min read
The world has entered the AI age, and many people are looking for alternatives to Google Docs. Docs is a fine product, but some people have concerns about privacy and its built-in AI chat is Gemini-only and has limited editing ability. We've made a list of six alternatives worth considering in 2026, and who each one is for.
The six best Google Docs alternatives
1. Revise: the best overall
Revise is a browser-based word processor built around AI editing. It has everything you like about Docs: free to use, web-based, offline editing, real-time collaboration with share links, and revision history. Nothing to install, and it's hosted in the US!
It also offers things Docs doesn’t have: fuller coverage of DOCX features, and true agentic AI editing with GPT-5, Claude, Gemini, and Grok built into the editor with granular tracked changes. Revise even has an MCP server, so you can connect your own AI agent and work on documents with it for free!
2. Microsoft Word
Word is still the standard for formatting-heavy work: precise layout, mature track changes, and the best offline story. The web version is free; the desktop apps need a Microsoft 365 subscription. If your documents end up in court filings or print, this is the safe pick.
Word’s AI is Copilot, and it’s the most capable of the non-Revise options here - it can draft, rewrite, and summarize inside the document, and its edits can flow through Word’s Track Changes. The catch is that it’s a separate paid add-on to Microsoft 365 and locks you to Microsoft’s models, where Revise includes agentic editing with your choice of GPT-5, Claude, Gemini, or Grok on the free tier.
3. Zoho Writer
Zoho Writer is the closest like-for-like replacement: a clean online word processor with real-time collaboration, good .docx compatibility, and a generous free tier. Fewer integrations than Google’s ecosystem, but as a straight Docs swap it’s hard to fault.
Its AI assistant, Zia, handles grammar, rephrasing, and summarizing, and Zoho has been wiring ChatGPT into it as well. It works sentence-by-sentence, though - it won’t take on a document-wide revision the way Revise’s agent does, and there is no diff-style review of what the AI changed.
4. Notion
Notion is not a word processor - it’s a block-based workspace where documents, wikis, and databases live together. Better than Docs for team knowledge bases; worse for anything you need to format, print, or export cleanly.
Notion AI is deeply integrated - it can search across your whole workspace, answer questions, and generate or rewrite content in any page. It’s excellent for knowledge work, but it’s a paid add-on, and because Notion isn’t a word processor its AI rewrites blocks in place rather than proposing tracked changes you can accept or reject like Revise does.
5. LibreOffice Writer
LibreOffice Writer is free, open-source desktop software that works fully offline. Handles .docx well and your files never leave your machine. No real-time collaboration, so it suits solo writers more than teams.
There’s no built-in AI, which for some people is exactly the point. If you do want assistance, community extensions can connect Writer to local models or an OpenAI-compatible API, but it’s a do-it-yourself setup - nothing like the integrated, reviewable AI editing in Revise or Copilot.
6. OnlyOffice
OnlyOffice is open-source with the best Microsoft-format fidelity of the free options, and you can self-host it for full control over where documents live. The setup overhead only pays off if privacy or compliance is the point.
OnlyOffice ships an AI plugin that you connect to your own provider - bring an API key for OpenAI, Anthropic, or even a local model - for chat, rewriting, and summarizing in the editor. That bring-your-own-key flexibility fits the self-hosting audience, but the AI is a text helper, not an agent: it won’t plan a multi-step revision across the document or leave suggestions for you to review.
The fastest way to evaluate the top pick: copy your Google Doc and paste it below. It opens in Revise right in your browser - no account required.
How to switch
Moving is simpler than it sounds, because everything speaks .docx. In Google Docs, go to File → Download → Microsoft Word (.docx), then import that file into whichever tool you pick. In Revise you can drop the file into the editor at the top of this page - headings, tables, and images come across - and export back to .docx or PDF at any point, so you’re never locked in.
The bottom line
If you need pixel-perfect layout, use Word. If your documents are really a team wiki, use Notion. If you want open source or self-hosting, LibreOffice or OnlyOffice. If you want Google Docs minus Google, Zoho Writer is the closest clone.
And if you want a modern editor where AI does real editing work - with changes you review, not silent rewrites - that’s Revise. It’s free to start.